Michigan State Police

ARTICLES ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE POLICE BY DATE - PAGE 5

LANSING (AP) - State police say an annual Michigan enforcement crackdown on motorists who fail to use seat belts and child safety seats led to 8,050 citations. That's down about 1,000 from 2011. This year's Click It or Ticket campaign ran from May 21 to June 1. State police say they have reports from law enforcement agencies in 26 counties. They say a preliminary count shows that officers stopped 14,761 vehicles during the crackdown. The state has reported a slight drop in the rate of seat belt law compliance, from a record-high 97.9 percent in 2009 to 94.5 percent in 2011.

Troopers were dispatched to the Pellston Family Dollar, 6353 State St. in Emmet County, around 3:45 p.m. June 1 for a report of a male subject who had allegedly urinated in the store parking lot. Reports indicate the complainant, who was inside the store, witnessed a man urinating just outside of the front door. A store employee reportedly identified the suspect and told troopers he lived on Levering Road. Troopers located the subject, a 49-year-old Levering man, who initially denied urinating in the parking lot, but then admitted he had because the store was crowded and he didn't want to bother store workers to ask for the restroom key. Troopers issued the man a verbal warning.

PETOSKEY - On Wednesday, today, a jury found a man accused of torturing a woman in Bear Creek Township in January guilty of all charges against him, including torture and unlawful imprisonment. The trial of Joshua Bennett Unrein, 33, of Petoskey, took place Tuesday and today in Emmet County's 57th Circuit Court. The jury deliberated for only about 30 minutes before delivering a verdict, Emmet County prosecutor Jim Linderman told the News-Review this afternoon. Unrein was found guilty of one count of torture, a felony offense with a maximum penalty of life in prison; one count of unlawful imprisonment, a felony offense with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine; one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a felony offense with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison or a $5,000 fine; three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (felonious assault)

MACKINAW CITY - A Michigan State Police St. Ignace Post trooper stopped a vehicle about 9:20 p.m. Sunday on I-75 North near the tolls of the Mackinac Bridge for having a cracked windshield and consequently discovered methamphetamine and chemicals used to make the drug, according to a state police news release issued today, Tuesday. The trooper noticed an odor he thought was burnt marijuana and started to ask questions of the driver, a 29-year-old Middleville man, and passenger, a 21-year-old Middleville woman.

PETOSKEY - Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said this year's Zoo-de-Mackinac event went more smoothly than in previous years, as his office made no arrests and received no reports of alcohol being consumed on the roads. "I believe it was executed better than it was in years past," Wallin said. The Emmet County Sheriff's Office responded to 10 complaints, such as bicycles riding more than two abreast, Wallin said, as well as eight incidents of bicycle falls and crashes, though none involved motor vehicles.

ROSCOMMON COUNTY - An inmate who escaped from the custody of an Arenac County Sheriff's Dept. patrol vehicle while in transport from the Roscommon County Jail to Arenac County, remains at large almost 24 hours after his escape. A Tuesday news release Roscommon County sheriff Randall Stevenson stated the inmate, Everett Alan Robinson, was able to overcome an Arenac County Sheriff's deputy while being transported to Arenac County around 10:45 a.m. Monday, for a court appearance.

GRAND RAPIDS - Michigan State Police invite anyone with a missing loved one to join law enforcement agencies in helping to raise public awareness of missing persons Saturday at the second annual Missing in Michigan event, according to a news release. The event, from 2-7 p.m. in Ballroom A at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, is free to the public and will give people the opportunity to provide law enforcement officials with tips and information about their missing loved ones, the release states.

ALBERT TOWNSHIP - A one-vehicle accident on Wolf Lake Road south of Lewiston late Monday night resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Lewiston woman. Passenger Kara Angela Cassisi died at the scene, according to the Montmorency County Sheriff's Department which is investigating the incident. The driver, Zachary Taylor Vogt, 23, also of Lewiston, was taken by ambulance to Otsego Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released. The accident was reported at 11:31 p.m. April 30. The vehicle was a 1995 Ford pickup.

GAYLORD - Otsego County is in the early stages of initiating a purchase agreement with the State of Michigan to transfer back to the state the former 9.5-acre Department of Natural Resources property which runs parallel to South Otsego Avenue. If the land transfer does materialize, the state could construct a 22,000-square-foot facility for a local state office center on the property that was once used as a DNR repair facility. In 2005, the parcel, located within the city limits of Gaylord, was deeded to the county from the state.

PETOSKEY - Michigan State Police seek to warn area residents of recent scam activity, including scams involving tax returns, according to a news release. Several recent investigations by state and local law enforcement agencies have identified scams perpetrated in the area, and, police say, there is potential for area residents to be victimized by such scams. And this tax season, law enforcement have seen scams involving tax returns. State police offered the following information about common types of scams and advice to help protect against them: - The Internal Revenue Service would never ask for confidential information via email.